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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Shea Allen claims she was fired from her job with an ABC affiliate in Huntsville, Alabama, because she posted such gems as "I've gone bra-less during a live broadcast and no one was the wiser." and"I'm frightened of old people and I refuse to do stories involving them or the places they reside. " on her personal blog, Shea Allen Says.

Those kinds of comments did sit well with her bosses. She claims she's entitled to free expression. Her employer thought otherwise.

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Wow. talk about voodoo economics. Obama has managed to stop the national debt for the past 70 days so he can pretend the country hasn't run out of money so he can continue to spend money he doesn't have.

Obama's unilateral move to delay the penalties of his own Obamacare travesty will cost American taxpayers $10 billion. The delay was made to give Congressional Democrats cover in 2014. Voters should strike back by voting out every Democrat in Congress!!!

Philadelphia Business Journal has posted the top 50 political donors from Pennsylvania. From reporter Jared Shelly:

It's no secret that the vast amount of political donations come from an
exceptionally small amount of people. Call them the 1 percent of the 1
percent. At least that's what the Sunlight Foundation called them.

Topping the list is Mel Heifetz, who donated $1,074,199 to Democratic candidates, committees and PACs in 2012. See for yourself who really pulls the strings of the state's political class at this link.

Welcome to Obama's America: Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.

A columnist for the ultra-liberal Philadelphia Inquirer doesn't think much of Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, a former abortion-clinic owner who is the leading candidate for the Democratic nod to run for Pa. governor in 2014.

Here is how New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg explained the importance of his widely derided 16-ounce limit on servings of sugar-sweetened beverages after a state judge overturned it last March: "We have a responsibility as human beings to do something, to save each other, to save the lives of ourselves, our families, our friends, and all of the rest of the people that live on God's planet." Bloomberg literally thinks he is saving the world one slightly smaller serving of soda at a time.
As grandiose as that may seem, it is consistent with Bloomberg's view of government. A few years ago in a speech at the United Nations, he declared that "to halt the worldwide epidemic of non-communicable diseases, governments at all levels must make healthy solutions the default social option," which he described as "government’s highest duty." On Bloomberg's to-do list for government, apparently, defending us against our own unhealthy habits ranks above defending us against foreign invaders or marauding criminals.
Public health is not the only area where Bloomberg's authoritarian tendencies are apparent. There is his enthusiasm for gun control, his illegal crackdown on pot smokers, and his unflagging defense of the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk program, which portrays the Fourth Amendment as a gratuitous barrier to effective policing. But his determination to halt "epidemics" of risky behavior shows him at his most arrogantly ambitious.
Bloomberg has pursued that goal not only by meddling with people's drink orders but by banning trans fats, pressuring food companies to reduce the salt content of their products, imposing heavy cigarette taxes, severely restricting the locations where people are allowed to smoke (even outdoors), mandating anti-smoking posters in stores that sell cigarettes (a policy that, like his big beverage ban, was rejected by the courts), and proposing a rule that would require merchants to hide tobacco products from people who might want to buy them.
The attitude driving Bloomberg’s crusade to "make healthy solutions the default social option" is reflected in another comment he made after his pint-sized pop prescription ran into legal trouble. "It was not a setback for me," said the billionaire with degrees from Johns Hopkins and Harvard. "In case you hadn't noticed, I watch my diet. This is not for me." No, indeed. It is for those poor, benighted souls who think it is acceptable to drink a 20-ounce soda.

ROSES to the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations (http://www.ptcc.us) for continuing to push for school property tax reform. The coalition, which is made up 80 grassroots taxpayer advocacy groups across the state, has been lobbying Pennsylvania legislators to support House Bill 76. David Baldinger, administrator of the coalition, reports that House Bill 76 has received 20 additional supporters since the Legislature adjourned for its summer hiatus on June 30, bringing the total number of co-sponsors in the House to 88. A bill needs 102 votes to pass the House. A companion bill in the state Senate has 22 co-sponsors. A bill needs 26 votes to pass the Senate. Thanks to the efforts of the taxpayer groups, that goal is achievable.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Reason Magazine celebrated its 45th anniversary by publishing a list of 45 "Enemies of Freedom." Among them is Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Here's what the magazine had to say about the presumptive 2016 Democratic nominee for president:

"It takes a village," Hillary Clinton famously wrote, and we've learned since that her meaning encompassed villages in Iraq and Afghanistan to house American troops, villages of taxpayers to fund her favored programs, and villages of snoops to staff a national security state. Those villages must be prudish, too, given Clinton's longstanding fear of video-game sex. To Hillary's credit, she does advocate Internet freedom for villages overseas. Too bad she doesn't promote the same idea at home.

Mike McMonagle, president of the Pro-Life Coalition of Pennsylvania, has announced his group will hold a Pro-Marriage Pray-In to Occur at the Montgomery County Register of Wills Office in Norristown, Pa., on Friday, July 26, 2013 at Noon. Montgomery County made national headlines on Wednesday when the Democratic Register of Wills, D. Bruce Hanes, backed by the two Democrats on the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, decided to defy state law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

The following press release was issued by Pro-Life Coalition of Pennsylvania:

We urge the Register of Wills, Bruce Hanes, to stop issuing marriage licenses to homosexual couples. We urge Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Ferman to charge
Bruce Hanes for his violation of state law by issuing marriage licenses
to homosexual couples.We urge Governor Corbett to cease his timid public responses and zealously defend Pa's marriage law.

The statement below: explains our position and the reasons for our actions:

A SUCCINCT CASE FOR PA.'S MARRIAGE LAW PROTECTING MARRIAGE IS PART OF STOPPING THE WAR ON CHILDREN
Pennsylvania should continue the legal definition of marriage as
the union of one man and one woman because the primary purpose of civil
marriage is to unite children with their mother and father. Such an
arrangement best ensures the welfare of future Americans and advances
the purposes of civil government.
"Marriage Equality," which is the slogan of the "homosexual
marriage" supporters, is oxymoronic, i.e. self-contradictory.
"Homosexual marriage" is inherently unequal to the union of one man and
one woman because homosexual relationships are incapable of producing
children.
Furthermore, the drive for homosexual marriage is a continuation
of the war on children. This war began by preventing the conception of
children by contraception and sterilization, killing children conceived
but not yet born by abortion and now intentionally denying born children
a mother and a father through "same sex marriage."
Numerous recent actions by "homosexual marriage" supporters
indicate that they are also willing to violate existing laws and trample
on the freedom of religion, speech and assembly of other Americans to
achieve their goal. Pro-life Pennsylvanians need to protect Pa's
marriage law and oppose the ongoing war on children with greatly
increased clarity and zeal.

With all due respect Mr. President, I don't consider the death of 4 Americans in Benghazi, the harassment of conservative groups by the IRS, the Dept. of Justice tapping media phones or the spying on US citizens by the NSA as "phony scandals."

David Baldinger of Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayers Associations (http://www.ptcc.us/) reports that five more members of the Pa. House have signed on today as co-sponsors of House Bill 76 to eliminate school property taxes. The House needs 102 votes to pass a bill. We're getting closer!!!

Deer Trail, Colo., resident Phillip Steel, remains defiant as the Obama Regime continues to spy on American citizens: "I don’t want to live in a surveillance society. I don't feel like being in a virtual prison," Steel said. "This is a pre-emptive strike."

THORNS to Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane for her refusal to defend Pennsylvania’s version of the Defense of Marriage Act against a federal lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union because she believes it’s unconstitutional. “By law, one of the fundamental duties of her office is to represent the commonwealth against lawsuits. Any attorney general swears to support, obey and defend both the U.S. and state constitutions and, most pertinently, discharge the duties of the office with fidelity,” wrote the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Democratic attorney general’s actions, whether you agree with the opinion or not, abandon impartiality and constitute a refusal to do her job. That’s just not acceptable.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Pennsylvania Pastors Network President Sam Rohrer on controversial Pa. Attorney General Kathleen Kane's refusal to defend the state's ban on same-sex marriage: "It sends signals to citizens at large who say, if those in positions of authority can choose which laws they prefer, why can't they? That's tyranny when that happens on the government level. On an individual perspective, that's anarchy."

The number of people in Pennsylvania getting monthly disability benefits through Social Security has risen by 50 percent in the past decade, high above the national average. Social Security Administration data show more than 390,000 Pennsylvanians qualified for disability payments in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available, according to PA Independent.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Jonathan Featherman on the hypocrisy of Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter: Last year, Mayor Michael Nutter referred to Trayvon Martin's death as "nothing short of an assassination." This past weekend, Nutter issued a less incendiary statement, saying he's "deeply saddened" by the verdict in the case, adding, "Every day in America, African American males die on our streets in outrageously alarming numbers." This all made me wonder: Just to what extent does Mayor Nutter really care about Philly's own young black men dying in our streets?

Trudy Rubin, one of the most knowledgeable people writing about the Middle East, says Obama has no clue about what he's doing with Afghanistan. She wrote a similar column a few weeks about exposing Obama's incompetence when it comes to Egypt.

An analysis of recent state and local spending on public education in Pennsylvania finds something odd: School districts tend to raise property taxes higher in years when state subsidies for education are higher.

THORNS to the Pennsylvania Legislature which left town last week without finishing necessary business tied to the passage of the state budget. Lawmakers neglected to pass the Fiscal Code legislation that authorizes spending of the $28 billion they just approved. In a statement released last week, the Corbett administration said lawmakers’ failure to act on the bill could impact available funding by as much as $235 million, according to reports at pennlive.com. Corbett called on lawmakers “to resolve their differences and act responsibly to send the Fiscal Code to my desk for approval as soon as possible.” The Legislature announced Wednesday a plan to reconvene next Monday and finish their jobs. The failure to finish their work before the start of a three-month vacation is pathetic. Will lawmakers collect more travel reimbursements and per diems for the return to do their jobs?

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding Attorney General Kathleen Kane's refusal to defend Pennsylvania law:

"The people of Pennsylvania elect citizens to carry out constitutional responsibilities based on the tradition that no one is above the law. It is unacceptable for Attorney General Kathleen Kane to put her personal politics ahead of her taxpayer-funded job by abdicating her responsibilities. She is blatantly politicizing the highest law enforcement office in our Commonwealth at the expense of a core responsibility of the Attorney General's office. Kathleen Kane is failing our citizens and this situation leaves a gaping doubt in her ability to fairly execute her job. Pennsylvanians are left with the question, if the Kathleen Kane's political beliefs are the standard for law enforcement, what law will she ignore next?"

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, the state's top law enforcement official, has decided not to defend the state's ban on same-sex marriage because it goes against her personal views. Typical liberal Democrat: Pick and choose which laws to uphold. Just do your job Madam Attorney General.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Pennsylvania taxpayers shell out more than $300 million a year to fund one of the largest and most expensive state legislatures in the nation. And a big chunk of that expense goes to pay the $83,802 annual salary and lavish benefits package of the 253 lawmakers, who routinely grant themselves pay hikes and one of the most generous pension plans in the country.

This is how good government activist Eric Epstein described how the Pa. Legislature continues to enrich itself at taxpayers' expense while pretending to support pension reform:

"When was the last time you ever heard of a bank robber robbing a bank,
going back to the scene of the crime putting the money back in the
vault, and then changing the combination? That's what we're asking our
legislators to do. It's probably not going to happen."

Some depressing news for people who still think newspapers matter. From a new Gallup poll: Some 55% of Americans turn to TV first to get the news, according to Gallup. The Internet was the second-most popular news source at 21%, followed by newspapers (9%) and radio (6%).

HARRISBURG, Pa., July 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Eleven people were killed and 241 people injured in crashes investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police during the Fourth of July holiday driving period. State troopers investigated a total…

Despite renewed special interest attacks at the capitol
in Harrisburg, the fight for eliminating the unfair school property tax begun
by 79 grassroots taxpayer groups across the state is making some real progress.

Across the 11 counties we represent, the number one
question we hear at our town hall meetings is: When will the legislature
eliminate school property taxes?

Last year, we introduced a similar proposal drafted by the
Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations. The Senate Finance Committee
held a public hearing on this proposal and we asked for a nonpartisan analysis
of the bill to provide detailed funding projections. The Independent Fiscal
Office (IFO) identified several problems in the original proposal. Special
interest groups have used the report as a weapon against our efforts but we
view it as a roadmap to achieve true property tax reform and we have moved
quickly to amend the bill.

Last year's proposal garnered 13 co-sponsors, or 26
percent of the total state Senate. This year’s proposal, Senate Bill 76, corrects the defects in the
original bill, as detailed in the 80-page analysis provided by the IFO.
Even more importantly, as a result of the grassroots efforts of the
Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations this year, 22 Senators have now
co-sponsored the bill – 12 Republicans and 10 Democrats – an increase of 9
Senators from last year. We continue to forge new coalitions and pick up
support from all corners of the state. Groups like the Western Pennsylvania
Coalition of Taxpayers, the Wilkes-Barre City Taxpayers Association, and the
South Eastern Tax Reform Coalition are leading the charge to eliminate this
tax.

The Senate and House Finance Committees have asked the
IFO to complete an updated analysis of Senate Bill 76 in the next few months.
The issue of funding public schools is a $13 billion problem and we welcome
their nonpartisan, professional analysis to ensure we provide a
dollar-for-dollar match for basic education.

In the last few months, because of growing grassroots
efforts across the state, support for the bill has grown from 13 to 22 State
Senators. The number we need to achieve in the Senate is 26 votes for passage,
and then it heads over to the House of Representatives, where we need 102
votes. Representatives Jim Cox and Mark Gillen have discussed this proposal
with the Governor, and he is on the record with them stating he would sign the
bill when it reaches his desk.

We look forward to continuing our bipartisan fight to
advance this issue. In our local newspapers, we frequently read about the
thousands of sheriff’s sales that occur each year across the state. We hear
this fundamental principle every day, from Marietta all the way to West
Pittston: No tax should have the power to leave you homeless.

Will Gov. Tom Corbett be done in by his fellow Republicans in the
Pennsylvania Legislature?

The first-term Republican offered an ambitious
reform agenda this year as he gears for a re-election bid in 2014, but the permanent political class in Harrisburg is only
interested in maintaining the status quo, not making the lives of
Pennsylvania residents any easier.

No pension reform, no liquor
privatization, no transportation funding, no property tax reform. That's what Pennsylvania taxpayers got from their $300 million legislature, which adjourned for a three-month summer vacation without action on any of the priorities pushed by Corbett or the perennial issue of school property tax elimination.

Corbett
came to the governor's mansion after two terms as Pennsylvania attorney
general, but many political observers doubted Corbett's political
acumen. He simply doesn't know how to wheel-and-deal with legislators and hasn't figured out that public relations is a big part of being governor. Corbett's job approval numbers have been low from the start and he has
done little to improve his image with Pennsylvania voters. (Liberal media bias among the Harrisburg press corps does have something to do with Corbett's inability to get his message across, but he deserves some of the blame because there are many avenues to reach the public besides the Harrisburg press corps.)

Corbett
needs to emulate his predecessor, Democrat Ed Rendell (aka "Fast Eddie"), who managed to
get most of his agenda passed in the Legislature even though Republicans
controlled both chambers for most of Rendel's eight years in office. Remember the legalization of casino gambling and passage of the second largest income
tax hike in state history? Rendell made enough deals with Republicans
to get both bills passed. Corbett doesn't want to play politics, so he's suffering for it.

Rendell was a master at PR and enjoyed high approval numbers despite a checkered record, which included leaving office with a $4 billion deficit. Rendell also had the dubious distinction of eight consecutive late budgets. On the other hand, Corbett has delivered three straight balanced budgets on time without a tax increase.

Corbett can't or won't cajole members of his own party to get his agenda moving in the legislature. He doesn't seem to grasp that legislative leaders are entrenched in gerrymandered districts and will remain in Harrisburg long after Corbett's tenure is up. They control the agenda, not the governor. He needs them. They don't need him. And time
is running out for Corbett. There's already a half-dozen Democrats lining up to challenge him next year.

Read more about the governor's inability to get any major initiatives passed in the Republican-controlled state legislature at PA Independent.

Friday, July 05, 2013

Who wouldn't want a part-time job that pays $83,802 a year, with top-of-the-line benefits and 3 months of vacation every summer? $300 million Pa. Legislature in session for less than 80 days each year.

"Obama knew the problems our country had before he became president. As a leader he should not put the blame on others for our country's deficiencies. A leader solves problems and does not blame them on others."

James Pethokoukis of the American Enterprise Institute on Obama's inability to deal with unemployment: There are 28 million part-time workers in U.S. vs. 25 million before Great Recession. There are 116 million full-time workers in U.S. vs. 122 million before Great Recession. The U-6 rate (unemployed, discouraged, underemployed) surges to 14.3% from 13.8% in June.

All good things come to an end. After six years of growth, Pennsylvania's casinos report a drop in revenues for the first time.

From The Associated Press:

The state's 11 casinos generated $2.43 billion in gross slots revenue
during the fiscal year that came to a close Sunday, down nearly 2
percent from the $2.48 billion generated the year before, according to
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board figures released this week. The annual
slots decline marked the first such decrease since the state's first
casino opened in November 2006.

A record 8% of households with minor children in the United States are headed by a single father, up from just over 1% in 1960, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Decennial Census and American Community Survey data.

Some disturbing findings in a new study from The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life:

The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion also has grown in recent years; indeed, about one-fifth of the public overall – and a third of adults under age 30 – are religiously unaffiliated as of 2012. Fully a third of U.S. adults say they do not consider themselves a "religious person." And two-thirds of Americans – affiliated and unaffiliated alike – say religion is losing its influence in Americans' lives.

Despite the popularity of Barack Obama at the top of the Democratic ticket in 2012, Pennsylvania voters tossed out most of the Democrats representing the state in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republicans hold 13 of the state's 18 Congressional seats and most political pundits say there is little chance of Democrats taking back any of the 13 GOP seats in 2014.

Reason.com takes a look at the terrible shape of Pennsylvania roads, something anyone who has driven through the state can attest to:

Pennsylvania's state highway system is ranked 39th in the nation in overall highway performance and efficiency in the latest Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation. It is a slight decline from the previous two reports, where it ranked 38th. Pennsylvania ranks last, 50th, in rural lanes that are too narrow, 48th in deficient bridges, 27th in fatality rate, 27th in urban interstate congestion, 32nd in rural interstate pavement condition, and 20th in urban interstate pavement condition. With 43,612 miles under the state highway control, it is the 4th largest highway system in the country. The state spent $149,813 per mile in 2009.

Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Pitts, R-16th Dist., released the following statement on the Obama administration's decision that enforcement of a major Obamacare employer mandate would be delayed until 2015.

"It is absolutely no surprise that the Obama administration is having trouble getting the health care law to work. For months, I've been hearing from constituents who are being hurt by the law. This delay is simply too little and too late for many workers who have already seen their hours cut and for many businesses who have spent millions of dollars to comply. The employer mandate should be repealed, not delayed.

"When Secretary Sebelius was before my Health Subcommittee, she insisted everything would start on time. I wonder how many other surprises we are in for before the end of the year? She should come back to the committee and be open and honest with us about how the implementation of law is going."

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Why Politics Matter

“Politics, the crooked timber of our communal lives, dominates everything because, in the end, everything – high and low and, most especially, high – lives or dies by politics. You can have the most advanced and efflorescent of cultures. Get your politics wrong, however, and everything stands to be swept away. This is not ancient history. This is Germany 1933.” –– Charles Krauthammer

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About Me

Tony A. Phyrillas is a leading conservative columnist, commentator and blogger based in Pennsylvania.
A veteran newspaperman with 33 years experience as a reporter, editor, photographer and columnist, Phyrillas received a first place award in 2010 for best column from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors and a first place award in 2007 for Best Opinion Column from Suburban Newspapers of America. He was recognized for column writing in 2007 by the Society of Professional Journalists, Keystone Chapter and in 2006 by the SPJ Greater Philadelphia Chapter.
Phyrillas is ranked among the most influential political bloggers in Pennsylvania by BlogNetNews.com.
Odyssey: The World of Greece magazine named Phyrillas one of the leading Greek-American bloggers in the world.
A Penn State University graduate, Phyrillas is the editor/content manager of The Mercury, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning daily newspaper in Pottstown, Pa.
Phyrillas made frequent appearances on talk radio and as a panelist on the "Journalists Roundtable" program on the Pennsylvania Cable Network.
He co-hosted a weekly radio program on WPAZ 1370 AM for 2 years.